Editorials

It is heartbreaking to see photos of wildlife and sea species that have died from swallowing or becoming tangled in plastic bags.

The results of a study of stakeholder attitudes regarding the proposed breaching of Snake River dams were hardly surprising, but agricultural interests say the document may serve to educate pr…

We often take for granted what we see. But behind every new thing in a city or town lies a story that many of us have forgotten. That is especially so in Astoria, which has enjoyed three decad…

The online post was a heartbreaker. “It’s almost Christmas and I’ve never felt less Christmassy in my life.”

Personal freedom, heartbreak, shame, law and order, dignity, cost to taxpayers — this is only some of what we must balance as the coast struggles with the interlocking dilemmas of homelessness…

Most voters on the North Coast made the right choice by not signing #TimberUnity’s recall petition against state Rep. Tiffiny Mitchell.

The latest news about Ocean View Cemetery offers a chance to examine a longer-term issue that the North Coast and all other communities should address.

It’s painful to consider how Washington state agencies and some political leaders are risking both Willapa Bay and Pacific County’s economy.

In an era of bare-knuckled politics, it is instructive to reflect on the career of William Ruckelshaus, the first administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

International trade can be complex.

Recent statistics from a poll by Business Insider indicate that more shoppers were expected to buy gifts during Cyber Monday than they did on Black Friday or Small Business Saturday, the two b…

The word “Thanksgiving” resonates throughout our great nation as an opportunity to pause to count our blessings.

The following sentence, tucked in a footnote of a white paper the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife prepared last winter, may hold the key to the health of the southern resident…

It was a disturbing scene.

Astoria deserves a better public library.

Nearly 13 years ago, when imidacloprid was first being considered to combat the burrowing shrimp population explosion in Willapa Bay, it appeared possible it might be licensed by 2012. It was …

Columbia Forum is a remarkable cultural asset for the communities of the lower Columbia River but may be overlooked, particularly by those who have moved here in recent years.

There is a nice symmetry to Fort George Brewery’s $8 million purchase of Astoria Warehousing.

Closure last month of the Warrenton Visitor Center and Museum at Youngs Bay Plaza generated a strong response on social media, with well-deserved appreciation lavished on volunteer Diane Colli…

For two-earner couples and single parents, child care is life and death. In rural Oregon, creating child care capacity that is dependable is a challenge. It is also a largely unseen, but criti…

After the party, Jane Sweet has a lot of cleaning up to do.

The Port of Astoria’s strategic business plan should tell the unvarnished truth about the agency’s troubled past.

To be a Circuit Court judge in a rural county like ours is to become deeply woven into the fabric of society. “The bench,” as judgeships are known in legal circles, is far more than a front-ro…

Our coast’s many fanatical razor clam diggers feel whipsawed between news that local sands swarm with delicious bivalves but that a new blob of warm seawater might produce a toxic bloom and ma…

Setting educational policy should follow the old adage, “It takes all sorts of people to make a world.”

The Port of Astoria Commission was wise to pause the search for a new executive director.

The hole in the middle of Astoria celebrates its ninth anniversary this year.

Setting aside for the moment that coho returns are predicted to be healthy and Buoy 10 fishing was hot over the Labor Day weekend, this has been another of many troubling years for Columbia Ri…

Astoria could surely learn from tiny Toledo, 140 miles down the Oregon Coast.

For many families, back-to-school time can be hard on the budget.

While we celebrated the milestone of Labor Day on Monday, and many workers in the United States enjoyed a day off, it’s important to remember there is always more we can do to help the nation’…

The first tell was the photo.

The Astoria Design Review Committee should tread carefully with Grocery Outlet.

At last.

In the last 30 years, medical science and community leadership has slowly trended toward a theme that was long overdue.

The caption to a photo we published along with our news coverage of the possible use of the Salvage Chief in a huge emergency said it all.

Gov. Kate Brown’s disdain for rural Oregon is showing.

The depravity of humanity knows no bounds. Witness the carnage in Dayton, Ohio, and El Paso, Texas, this past weekend — and Gilroy, California, the previous weekend.

As Oregonians decide whether to sign petitions to recall Gov. Kate Brown from office, it is worth thinking back to whom she displaced in the governor’s mansion.

The Trump administration claims the conditions at the detention centers are fine and appropriate. That is not what was found by the Oregon congressional delegation.

Probably no core issue on the North Coast has been guaranteed to spark discussion on this page more than affordable housing.

For President Donald Trump to tell any member of Congress to “go back” to the “places from which they came” is a violation of basic American norms.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents pepper-spraying people in a Clatsop County Courthouse corridor while sheriff’s deputies look on? Is this really a situation anyone should find acceptable?

In the final day of the session, the Oregon Senate passed House Bill 2015, a measure that will allow illegal immigrants and other Oregonians who can’t prove their legal residence status to get…

The partisan excesses and political turmoil of the 2019 Oregon Legislature have been well-documented. But the now-finished legislative session also should be remembered for some good work on b…

Ask our brave friends in the U.S. Coast Guard and they will tell you with cool assurance that the people who survive a rescue at sea are wearing lifejackets. Those who fish or sail without wea…

When it comes to unfolding train wrecks, the best advice is to watch it happen from a safe distance.

There is no better example of political failure than the move by Republican lawmakers to walk away from the Oregon Legislature Thursday.

Politicians deserve plaudits when they do the right thing. In Oregon, they’re likely to get punished.

We’ve taken a wait-and-see attitude towards Oregon’s carbon cap-and-trade proposal, which has been winding its way through the state Legislature this session.

A few weeks ago, state Sen. Betsy Johnson of Scappoose took to the Senate floor and pointed out the irony within a proposal to change how Oregon helps elect our nation’s president.

Infrastructure is too boring a word for a set of assets that go to the very core of a functioning civilization.

Oregon’s unique tax “kicker” law is working exactly as intended, potentially sending more than $1.4 billion — yes, billion — back to taxpayers next year.